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Planetizen Picks: Top Twitter Feeds on Urban Planning

13 January 2010 - 4:00pm
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Twitter was formerly the exclusive domain of navel-gazers telling you what they ate for lunch. While much of its frivolity remains, it has evolved into a sophisticated tool for keeping up with the latest news and observations about urban planning, design and development.

It is nearly impossible to talk about Twitter to people who haven't experienced it. The name is difficult to get behind, for one -- it's too much like "fritter", which is something you do to waste time, or "twiddle", which you do with your thumbs while bored. But while Twitter may seem like a timewaster, it can be a powerful tool for communicating and sharing information.

"Nothing interesting can be said in 140 characters," say the naysayers. But the brevity of Twitter is exactly what makes it so powerful, allowing one to scan through hundreds of Tweets easily to search for items of interest. And while the list we've created is narrow to the field of urban planning, design and development, a person's Twitter feed is usually an idiosyncratic collection of topics and ephemera. There are plenty of dead celebrities clogging up the Twittersphere (@JimiHendrix: "Finally found that pick I've been looking for..."), but you control what you see.

So without further ado, here's our editors' picks for the Top Twitter Feeds on Urban Planning. The Twitter page of each person, publication or group is linked, followed by their brief Twitter bio. While we've divided our list into a few main groups, the list is in no particular order, and we encourage people to recommend their own personal best Twitterers in the comments at the end.

Image: Urban planning Twitterers
Carol Coletta, Mike Lydon and Alison Arieff use Twitter to share the latest in urban planning.

Top Urban Planning Twitter Feeds

Individuals

  • Aarieff By Design columnist for the New York Times and Food & Shelter Ambassador, GOOD
  • DanBurden Dan Burden is helping America become more walkable. To date 2500 towns have shared their secrets, passions and hopes for a healthier future.
  • Richard_Florida Urbanist, Author, Professor, Researcher, Talker, Bike Rider, Guitar Player
  • Ehooge I share ideas and design projects for innovative and sustainable cities (futurist and public marketing consultant)
  • OtisWhite I help localities (cities, counties, regions) make strategic decisions
  • ccoletta Carol Coletta: Cities, Future, Talent Development, Design, Chicago, Politics, Memphis
  • BlairKamin An RSS feed from Cityscapes by Blair Kamin, architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune
  • anthonyflint Urbanist, father, author of Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took on NY's Master Builder & Transformed the American City
  • MikeLydon Life is better on two wheels.
  • naparstek Streetsblog Editor-in-chief
  • jmassengale Architect, Urbanist, Educator, Author
  • gosner George Osner, AICP resilient/sustainable urban planner extraordinaire, cyclist, dad/grandpa, CEQA guru for infrastructure, amateur genealogist, hotair balloonist
  • stevemouzon Steve is a principal of the New Urban Guild and Mouzon Design in Miami. He is an author, and lectures frequently across the country and abroad.
  • Gelatobaby If I could write all my articles in under 140 characters, I would.
  • cityofsound http://www.cityofsound.com/
  • lcarroli Writer, Editor, Consultant. Harbinger Consultants. Interests: Art, Technology, Futures, Communities & Urbanism.
  • Urbanverse architect, futurist, rhetorician, adjunct prof, treehugger, former biz owner now a writer exploring city futures, reborn from @cindyfw.
  • HawthorneLAT Architecture Critic, L.A. Times
  • Pazzler Aspiring Member of the Yinzerati. Undergrad student in Metro. & Regional Mgmt. at GWU. Transit freak & trainiac. Urban explorer. Ballroom Dancer. Bowtie lover.
  • marynewsom Charlotte urbanist, journalist, op-ed columnist, um, bloggist?
  • jetjocko Senior Editor at Wired. Science, defense tech, miscellaneous geekery.
  • AlexSteffen I think, write and speak about how to live well and be a good ancestor...

News Sources and Blogs

  • archpaper Architecture and design news from New York, California, the Midwest & beyond.
  • streetsblog The national blog network for sustainable transport, smart growth and livable streets.
  • PlanningJournal Wayne Senville, Editor, Planning Comm'rs Journal; member, Burlington, Vermont, Planning Commission. For more info: www.plannersweb.com
  • bldgblog Author of BLDGBLOG and The BLDGBLOG Book, Contributing Editor at Wired UK.
  • theoverheadwire Jeff Wood is an urban planner living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  • UrbanOmnibus Urban Omnibus is an online project of the Architectural League that explores the relationship between design and the physical environment of New York City.
  • Urbanreinventor The Urban Reinventors Urban Journal is a magazine featuring writings, commentaries, reportages, photographic galleries, films and videos on urban issues
  • PlacesJournal A Forum of Design for the Public Realm. Edited by Nancy Levinson. Part of the Design Observer Group.
  • volume_mag Volume is an independent quarterly magazine that sets the agenda for architecture and design.
  • ArchitectureMNP Ninja architecture blogger
  • Architectmag The business, technology, and culture of architecture, urbanism, building products, and design. Your guides: @bagnese + @amandakhurley
  • ttpolitic The Transport Politic
  • dwell Following our team around the modern world. See who's saying what dwell.com/twitter
  • Infrastructurst Infrastructurist.com covers the rebuilding of America
  • NextAmCity Making Cities Better
  • subtopes Just havin' a look around.
  • pruned Spatialist.
  • CityJournal A quarterly magazine of urban affairs, published by the Manhattan Institute, edited by Brian C. Anderson.
  • MarketUrbanism Urbanism for Capitalists / Capitalism for Urbanists
  • MetropolisMag The magazine of Architecture and Design

Consultants

  • LandUseAttorney I'm a lawyer specializing in environmental and land use law.
  • LandUseXperts Land Use Experts is a national political consulting firm specializing in winning controversial land use battles.
  • svrdesign SvR Design Co specializes in innovative and sustainable solutions. Civil Engineering. Landscape Architecture. Ped and Bike Planning. Env Restoration.
  • sustainableurb Walkable, transit-served urbanism integrated with high performance buildings and infrastructure.
  • GenslerOnCities We Tweet about cities, their design, plans and potential futures. Gensler’s @leahray + Lisa Beazley are the voices behind @GenslerOnCities.
  • cubitplanning Provide cut-and-paste ready environmental data in seconds. Mapping + urban planning + data + technology + start ups

Non-profit organizations

  • NewUrbanism News and blog entries from the Congress for the New Urbanism, plus wide-ranging urban observations, many from CNU comm director Steve Filmanowicz
  • Landarchitects The American Society of Landscape Architects
  • trustmodern Chris Madrid French, Historian with a passion for American Modern architecture. Director, Modernism + Recent Past, National Trust for Historic Preservation.
  • UrbanLandInst ULI's mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide.
  • reconnecting Reconnecting America is a national nonprofit working to integrate transportation systems and the communities they serve
  • landpolicy The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
  • T4America A nationwide coalition of groups and individuals focused on creating a national transportation program for the 21st century.
  • TheCityFix Exploring sustainable solutions to the problems of urban mobility.
  • PPS_Placemaking Placemaking for communities
  • ApolloAlliance Apollo Alliance is a coalition of labor, business, enviro and community leaders catalyzing a clean energy revolution and creating millions of green-collar jobs.
  • RegionalPlan For 80+ years, RPA has been shaping transportation systems, protecting open spaces, and promoting better community design for NY-NJ-CT's continued growth.

Mapping/GIS

  • googlemaps News, tips and candid tales of Google Maps
  • gearthblog The blog that follows everything about Google Earth.
  • geoparadigm The georevolution will be tweeted.
  • gisuser GISuser is THE resource for GIS, mapping, mashup news, social location, and location technology news, tools, and tips - managed by @gletham
  • digitalurban http://www.digitalurban.blogspot.com/

Government

  • RayLaHood The official Twitter page of the US Secretary of Transportation
  • FTA_DOT Online updates from the Federal Transit Administration
  • Repblumenauer Earl Blumenauer
  • HUDNEWS Welcome to the official Twitter feed for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development managed by the Office of Public Affairs
  • USInteriorNewsOfficial Dept. of the Interior Twitter account. Learn more about DOI at http://www.doi.gov

Planetizen/Urban Insight

  • planetizen The urban planning news website
  • halbur Tim Halbur, Managing Editor
  • nate_berg Nate Berg, Assistant Editor
  • urbaninsight Assorted tidbits from the Urban Insight team, edited by Chris Steins
»

Comments

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Urban Planning List

Submitted by Mark Abraham on Sun, 01/17/2010 - 18:02.

An extended list of Urban Planning & Design Twitter feeds may be found here: http://twitter.com/urbandata/urban-planning-list

Of course, you left out Cyburbia

Submitted by Dan on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 21:45.

You left out Cyburbia at http://twitter.com/cyburbia_forums

Don't forget the National Building Museum!

Submitted by hummeline on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 13:10.

They're still getting started, but the Building Museum in DC is doing a nice job of covering urban planning (with a healthy dose of architecture and green!) - well worth checking out. @BuildingMuseum

More essentials

Submitted by twelvefloorsup on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 10:24.

Here are some essentials you missed from my list:

@eschor - The streetsblog Capitol Hill correspondent. Great for federal transportation news.

@beyonddc - DC area urbanist blogger, but tweets a lot of national stuff.

@urbanophile - Very well known blogger covering the US Midwest.

A +1 and another suggestion

Submitted by cubithq@cubitpl... on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 08:54.

Thanks for including @cubitplanning on your list!

+1 for @gosner. He is one of my favorites.

Also consider @OtisWhite as a consistent quality tweeter.

Also, Bird to the North

Submitted by nickgrossman on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 11:50.

Thanks Mike. Also, @stsay is new to twitter but has been writing thoughtfully about planning and public spaces for several years now at Bird to the North.

Twitter list

Submitted by drewda on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 11:50.

I've created a Twitter list that aggregates all of these feeds for my own benefit--but you can follow it, too, if you'd like: http://twitter.com/drewdaraabrams/planetizen-urban-planning

Addition

Submitted by Mike Lydon on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 10:30.

Add nickgrossman from The Open Planning Project--follow him to get the latest on the intersection between planning and web technology!

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